This is our feature where we recap the biggest tech hires and promotions in Chicago over the past month. Want daily updates on personnel moves, fundings and other Chicago tech news? Sign up for our daily newsletter, The Beat.
Vivid Seats
Grubhub COO Stan Chia left the company to become the CEO of Vivid Seats, a Chicago online ticket marketplace. Vivid Seats' co-founders Eric Vassilatos and Jerry Bednyak will transition daily operations to Chia, the company said, and remain co-chairmen of the board.
ShopRunner
ShopRunner, a Chicago-based e-commerce shipping startup led by Sam Yagan, announced it has hired Chris Ladd as its chief commercial officer. Ladd comes to ShopRunner after working in various roles at companies such as Crocs, Lululemon, Finish Line, and New Balance.
STATS
Sports data firm STATS hired Blake Konrardy as its vice president of product management. Konrardy was a founding member and vice president of insurance product for HiRoad, an insurance tech company from State Farm.
InterOptic
Chicago-based IT infrastructure company InterOptic made two new hires: Brian McConnell as president and CEO, and Britt Mowery as VP of Federal Markets. McConnell was previously the co-founder and COO of Optulink, where he developed technologies that optimize mobile voice and data for global wireless networks. Mowery was most recently the director of federal sales at TechTrend.
Maropost
Maropost, a Toronto-based company that builds customer engagement technology, made a new hire in its Chicago office. The company announced that Jay Miller is joining the company as senior VP of Marketing. Miller was previously at LearnCore, where he served as the company’s VP of Marketing.
Spring Labs
Gary Cohn, the former chief economic aide to President Donald Trump and president of Goldman Sachs, has joined the board of Chicago blockchain startup Spring Labs. Spring Labs says it's building a more transparent, efficient, and secure ecosystem to exchange credit and identity information using the blockchain. It has offices in LA and Chicago, and was born out of members of the founding team of Chicago tech unicorn Avant.
Kraft Heinz
Kraft Heinz is launching a $100M venture fund to back innovative food startups. The fund will be based in Chicago and led by Bill Pescatello, a former Lightbank partner. Kraft Heinz's fund follows Tyson's $150M Chicago-based fund, which also looks to back food startups.
